Escalating a pathetic Cust Rels response - cancellation requiring out of pocket spend
Oct 22, 2018, 1:58 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: DL-Plat, UA-Plat 2MM, AA-PlatPro, B6-Mosaic 3, AY-Plat, HY-Globalist, MR-LT Plat, HH-Gold
Posts: 1,235
Escalating a pathetic Cust Rels response - cancellation requiring out of pocket spend
Long story short: I was flying LGA-RDU-LHR a few weeks ago... the RDU-LHR cancelled due to a mechanical issue long after departure time. Only alternative was to book a flight the next day and the agents provided hotel voucher for the overnight. Only problem... when we arrived at the hotel, they had no rooms and told us that they had specifically told the AA agents this was the case. At this point, it was late at night and the only option was to book a hotel ourselves. I even tweeted AA at the time, who responded that we should keep our hotel receipt and provide after the trip.
I sent a note to AA CS over the weekend describing the situation and requesting reimbursement for the out of pocket costs (hotel and transportation), plus whatever accommodation they felt was appropriation for the hassle we experienced. Here's the reply I got back...
This has to be a joke, right? They took responsibility for our overnight stay when they issued hotel vouchers. How they could put this on me is just... amazing. And 15k points? I'm kind of stunned that they would send this to an EXP.
Are there avenues to escalate this? Who would be the right person/team? I already directly responded to the email, but I'm not expecting much.
I sent a note to AA CS over the weekend describing the situation and requesting reimbursement for the out of pocket costs (hotel and transportation), plus whatever accommodation they felt was appropriation for the hassle we experienced. Here's the reply I got back...
Your time is valuable. We understand that. We know, too, that few things are as frustrating as a cancelled flight. I'm sorry that we delivered anything less than a wonderful experience traveling with American.
While we don't assume financial responsibility for out-of-pocket expenses when operational disruptions occur, from what I read it sounds as though we could've done a better job at assisting you. As a tangible way of saying sorry, I've added 15,000 bonus miles to each AAdvantage® account.
Mr. xxxx, we value your long-standing loyalty and support and are eager to continue the relationship we have enjoyed over the years. Please be assured we are all working hard to provide the high quality service you have every right to expect when traveling on American.
While we don't assume financial responsibility for out-of-pocket expenses when operational disruptions occur, from what I read it sounds as though we could've done a better job at assisting you. As a tangible way of saying sorry, I've added 15,000 bonus miles to each AAdvantage® account.
Mr. xxxx, we value your long-standing loyalty and support and are eager to continue the relationship we have enjoyed over the years. Please be assured we are all working hard to provide the high quality service you have every right to expect when traveling on American.
Are there avenues to escalate this? Who would be the right person/team? I already directly responded to the email, but I'm not expecting much.
Oct 22, 2018, 2:08 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Park, Metropolis
Programs: AA LT PLT 3MM, Hilton/Marriott/SPG/Club Carlson GLD, IHG PLT
Posts: 4,608
Whenever you send a notification to CS (if it actually exist) AA, you always get a canned response that most of the time just tries to brush you off and has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Since you already twitted to AA, might as well follow that route and see what happens next. You can also respond to the AA email you got, along with perhaps a copy of your tweet, and hopefully the second time it will go to an actual human being that will have the 5 minutes to read your message. Be very concise and direct with the message, Flight AA--- RDU-LHR on DD/MM/YY was canceled and I was given accommodation to HOTEL NAME, upon arrival at hotel no rooms where available and we had to make our own accommodations. I twitted to AA who mentioned that we should keep receipt for reimbursement. I feel that 15k miles does not cover our expenses. Coincidentally, did you ask for distressed rate at the hotel you booked, sometimes they tend to be a bit lower than rack rates.
Oct 22, 2018, 3:17 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Long story short: I was flying LGA-RDU-LHR a few weeks ago... the RDU-LHR cancelled due to a mechanical issue long after departure time. Only alternative was to book a flight the next day and the agents provided hotel voucher for the overnight. Only problem... when we arrived at the hotel, they had no rooms and told us that they had specifically told the AA agents this was the case. At this point, it was late at night and the only option was to book a hotel ourselves. I even tweeted AA at the time, who responded that we should keep our hotel receipt and provide after the trip.
I sent a note to AA CS over the weekend describing the situation and requesting reimbursement for the out of pocket costs (hotel and transportation), plus whatever accommodation they felt was appropriation for the hassle we experienced. Here's the reply I got back...
This has to be a joke, right? They took responsibility for our overnight stay when they issued hotel vouchers. How they could put this on me is just... amazing. And 15k points? I'm kind of stunned that they would send this to an EXP.
Are there avenues to escalate this? Who would be the right person/team? I already directly responded to the email, but I'm not expecting much.
I sent a note to AA CS over the weekend describing the situation and requesting reimbursement for the out of pocket costs (hotel and transportation), plus whatever accommodation they felt was appropriation for the hassle we experienced. Here's the reply I got back...
This has to be a joke, right? They took responsibility for our overnight stay when they issued hotel vouchers. How they could put this on me is just... amazing. And 15k points? I'm kind of stunned that they would send this to an EXP.
Are there avenues to escalate this? Who would be the right person/team? I already directly responded to the email, but I'm not expecting much.
Oct 22, 2018, 3:25 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: DL-Plat, UA-Plat 2MM, AA-PlatPro, B6-Mosaic 3, AY-Plat, HY-Globalist, MR-LT Plat, HH-Gold
Posts: 1,235
Oct 22, 2018, 3:27 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: DL-Plat, UA-Plat 2MM, AA-PlatPro, B6-Mosaic 3, AY-Plat, HY-Globalist, MR-LT Plat, HH-Gold
Posts: 1,235
Oct 22, 2018, 4:13 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
If it was a confirmed mechanical (not mechanical following an upstream weather) issue, they may cover reasonable expenses.
There is a thread about this here. It's important to be concise, factual, leave out emotion and provide receipts for reasonable hotel rooms. You can document the non-usable voucher and the Twitter note.
Good luck and please post back with your results!
There is a thread about this here. It's important to be concise, factual, leave out emotion and provide receipts for reasonable hotel rooms. You can document the non-usable voucher and the Twitter note.
Good luck and please post back with your results!
Oct 22, 2018, 8:33 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, AA EXP, various hotel
Posts: 2,227
DOT complaint. The COC states that they will provide overnight accomodation if there's a mechanical issue, and an unusable voucher does not suffice.
You gave them one opportunity to come through, and they whiffed it with extremely bad faith.
You gave them one opportunity to come through, and they whiffed it with extremely bad faith.
Oct 23, 2018, 5:19 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
And they should, just needs a differently approach that doesnt need to be ‘escalated’ just yet. It’s quite something that everyone wants to escalate everything so quickly when it comes to air travel these days.
Oct 23, 2018, 7:16 am
#13
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: OKC
Programs: IHG Spire, National Exec, AA Plat
Posts: 2,274
Exactly. The fact that they try to blow you off is unethical and insulting. You did your part.
Oct 23, 2018, 7:23 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,480
Yea, as mentioned above the first response back from an AA Customer Relations complaint is usually complete nonsense. Don't take it personally, just reply back to the same email and state your request again. In this case forget about the original AA provided hotel being sold out, just say your flight was cancelled due to mechanical, no hotel was provided, and you're attaching hotel and taxi etc. receipts for $XXX for reimbursement.
Oct 23, 2018, 7:55 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
In addition to a DOT complaint, consider suing in small claims court. There's a pretty straightforward breach of contract claim here, which should be relatively quick to sort out in court.